Help with ideas on consolidating systems


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So I would like to get this merged into one if possible but not sure which best option is.

 

System 1 - Just a Daily Machine I use mainly for makemkv/handbrake stuff

Windows 7 OS

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX

G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 6-Core 3.2GHz Socket AM3

XIGMATEK Dark Knight II SD1283 Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler

Radeon HD 4200

CORSAIR CXM series CX600M 600W ATX12V v2.3 SLI CrossFire 80

NEC 3540A

HL

OCZ-Vertex2 SSD 60GB

WDC WD10EACS

WDC ED10EADS

 

System 2 - ESXi 5.5 running test VMs that a few have become setup as plex server, Video conversion etc.

Dell 2950 III

32 GB ram

6 * 146g scsi drives in raid 10

 

The 2950 is really to loud even in the garage - but I want something running VMs or similiar.

 

Current VMs on the 2950

1) Win7-Music

    This runs Foobar, DBPoweramp, Music Tagger. Basic VM for ripping CDs to FLAC.

 

2) Win7-Plex

    This runs plex media server as well as makemkv for DVD ripping.

 

3) Win7-Media Browser

    This runs MB server, Mediacentermaster, MCEBuddy

 

and a couple test VMs

   

 

What I am looking for:

 

1) If I could have an Unraid/VM/Dockers combo that would be great but I don't think I can do that with my GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX. Plus that board max out at 16gb ram.

 

2) 32gb ram minimum for MB eventually but if I can somehow use my system 1 from above for now great.

 

3) Run multiple VMs & unraid if possible for data duplication to my HP N40L that is running unraid.

 

So do I look to build out a New MB/CPU in my current box 1 and build out unraid?

 

*****Update 11/9/15*****

 

After a lot of thought, digging, forum responses  for now I have moved my unRAID HP Micro server to my Daily Machine(Win7) listed above.

 

This post https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=42921.0 got me looking again into changing something so I finally did this past weekend.

 

Added the following to the Gigabyte unRAID machine

1 - SYBA SI-PEX40064 PCI-Express 2.0 Low Profile Ready SATA III (6.0Gb/s) Controller Card

 

1 - SanDisk Ultra Fit 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive 128bit AES Encryption Model SDCZ43-016G-G46 running unraid

 

180gb ssd as cache drive

 

180gb ssd as mountable drive outside array

 

Blu ray drive for makemkv

 

Future PC upgrades - Current MB maxes out at 16gb so I may upgrade to 16gb since I am only running 8gb and would like a minimum of 16gb for this setup. Otherwise I may just look at upgrading the MB & Memory and keep current cpu or look for a better all around mb/cpu/memory setup just not sure yet. I want to run a few tests with the current setup first to determine my needs.

Moved from HP microserver

1 3tb parity drive

3 3tb drives

1 2tb drive

 

Followed these directions for moving my unraid http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=39032.0. Basically followed steps 1 - 8. Things went well and order of drives didn't matter.

 

Dockers running:

Handbrake

MakeMKV

Plex

Emby

Logitech Media Server

 

VMs running:

Windows 8 VM

 

So I currently have a ESXi server running a few VMs. I didn't want to start it from scratch so I followed this youtube video(www. youtube.com/watch?v=ZV4kqeD0RLk) to move my ESXi vm to unraid and it worked with no issues.

 

 

 

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You probably wouldn't be able to use the SCSI drives with unRAID.  I used the older PE 1600SC and have the PE 1800 as backup hardware.  The server is probably something you would hide in a closet or crawl space.  I wouldn't use it as a main computer.

 

Your other system should work.  It's easy enough to build a bootable USB stick and give it a shot.  I don't run any VM's on my server.

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I'd probably get on eBay and find a full atx board for your 1090t. That way you can bump up the ram and add controller cards. Unraid 6 supports virtualisation as host via either KVM or Xen. You can look into each of the boards about these to learn the differences and if there are any compatibility issues.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Okay so with unraid 6 and dockers, etc can I get all the following pieces of software running and if so how?

 

Current VMs on the 2950

1) Win7-Music

    This runs Foobar, DBPoweramp, Music Tagger. Basic VM for ripping CDs to FLAC.

 

2) Win7-Plex

    This runs plex media server as well as makemkv for DVD ripping.

 

3) Win7-Media Browser

    This runs MB server, Mediacentermaster, MCEBuddy

 

 

--------------Docker, KVM, Virtual Desktop

DBPoweramp

Foobar

MediaMonkey

Plex

Emby

Mediacenter Master

MCEBuddy

Makemkv

Handbrake

 

To have Makemkv docker see a blu ray drive does this require a special motherboard?

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This has inspired me again - http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=42921.0

 

Okay so with unraid 6 and dockers, etc can I get all the following pieces of software running and if so how?

 

Current VMs on the 2950

1) Win7-Music

    This runs Foobar, DBPoweramp, Music Tagger. Basic VM for ripping CDs to FLAC.

 

2) Win7-Plex

    This runs plex media server as well as makemkv for DVD ripping.

 

3) Win7-Media Browser

    This runs MB server, Mediacentermaster, MCEBuddy

 

 

--------------Docker, KVM, Virtual Desktop

DBPoweramp

Foobar

MediaMonkey

Plex

Emby

Mediacenter Master

MCEBuddy

Makemkv

Handbrake

 

To have Makemkv docker see a blu ray drive does this require a special motherboard?

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This has inspired me again - http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=42921.0

 

Okay so with unraid 6 and dockers, etc can I get all the following pieces of software running and if so how?

 

Current VMs on the 2950

1) Win7-Music

    This runs Foobar, DBPoweramp, Music Tagger. Basic VM for ripping CDs to FLAC.

 

2) Win7-Plex

    This runs plex media server as well as makemkv for DVD ripping.

 

3) Win7-Media Browser

    This runs MB server, Mediacentermaster, MCEBuddy

 

 

--------------Docker, KVM, Virtual Desktop

DBPoweramp

Foobar

MediaMonkey

Plex

Emby

Mediacenter Master

MCEBuddy

Makemkv

Handbrake

 

To have Makemkv docker see a blu ray drive does this require a special motherboard?

 

YOu can absolutely do what you're looking to do on one system, especially with dockers..  That's very similar to what I am running.

 

I have a single ESXi 5.5 server running about 10-12 VM's but my unRAID VM is my main VM.  Inside that VM I'm running about 10 dockers including Plex and it runs flawlessly.  You can also run Emby and MakeMKV inside a docker as well.  As for dockers being able to utilize a bluray drive, that I can't really speak to as my server has no optical drive installed.

 

What is your budget for this server because that will determine a lot?

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Why do you have several Windows 7 VMs (1 + 3 VMs)?

 

You could consolidate them all under 1 Windows 7 VM (KVM) - It will save you RAM memory usage - one windows 7 running - I think 16GB memory should be enough.

 

If you have a windows 7 VM it is (IMHO) easier to use it for services than Docker - This is exactly what I am doing using virtualbox and not KVM (yet).

 

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This has inspired me again - http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=42921.0

 

Okay so with unraid 6 and dockers, etc can I get all the following pieces of software running and if so how?

 

Current VMs on the 2950

1) Win7-Music

    This runs Foobar, DBPoweramp, Music Tagger. Basic VM for ripping CDs to FLAC.

 

2) Win7-Plex

    This runs plex media server as well as makemkv for DVD ripping.

 

3) Win7-Media Browser

    This runs MB server, Mediacentermaster, MCEBuddy

 

 

--------------Docker, KVM, Virtual Desktop

DBPoweramp

Foobar

MediaMonkey

Plex

Emby

Mediacenter Master

MCEBuddy

Makemkv

Handbrake

 

To have Makemkv docker see a blu ray drive does this require a special motherboard?

 

YOu can absolutely do what you're looking to do on one system, especially with dockers..  That's very similar to what I am running.

 

I have a single ESXi 5.5 server running about 10-12 VM's but my unRAID VM is my main VM.  Inside that VM I'm running about 10 dockers including Plex and it runs flawlessly.  You can also run Emby and MakeMKV inside a docker as well.  As for dockers being able to utilize a bluray drive, that I can't really speak to as my server has no optical drive installed.

 

What is your budget for this server because that will determine a lot?

 

RIght now I am testing it it on my main PC - I got the makemkv and handbrake working. Is there a way to point plex and Emby to my other server as a test run?

 

Also any good directions on getting a VM up and running in unraid? Can I move a VM from my ESXI server to unraid?

 

 

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Why do you have several Windows 7 VMs (1 + 3 VMs)?

 

You could consolidate them all under 1 Windows 7 VM (KVM) - It will save you RAM memory usage - one windows 7 running - I think 16GB memory should be enough.

 

If you have a windows 7 VM it is (IMHO) easier to use it for services than Docker - This is exactly what I am doing using virtualbox and not KVM (yet).

 

To keep things simple.

 

Also to keep thing seperate and not wanting programs to be using same resources at same time. Say Plex transcoding something and MCEBuddy running sametime on same Win7 box.

 

 

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Why do you have several Windows 7 VMs (1 + 3 VMs)?

 

You could consolidate them all under 1 Windows 7 VM (KVM) - It will save you RAM memory usage - one windows 7 running - I think 16GB memory should be enough.

 

If you have a windows 7 VM it is (IMHO) easier to use it for services than Docker - This is exactly what I am doing using virtualbox and not KVM (yet).

 

To keep things simple.

 

Also to keep thing seperate and not wanting programs to be using same resources at same time. Say Plex transcoding something and MCEBuddy running sametime on same Win7 box.

All the more reason to use dockers, which will use a lot fewer resources than multiple VMs. Some of your applications will require Windows, but some are available as dockers. Install the Community Applications plugin if you haven't already to help you find those that are available as dockers.
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All the more reason to use dockers, which will use a lot fewer resources than multiple VMs. Some of your applications will require Windows, but some are available as dockers. Install the Community Applications plugin if you haven't already to help you find those that are available as dockers.

 

Agree with trurl here.

 

Also, with regard to linking Plex to another server, I'm not sure what you're asking.  Are you saying you have Plex/Emby up in a test unRAID server and want to link those Dockers to shares on your other server?

 

And with regard to moving VM's from ESXi to unRAID, can't be done as far as I'm concerned.  unRAID uses the KVM hypervisor which is fundamentally different from ESXi.

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All the more reason to use dockers, which will use a lot fewer resources than multiple VMs. Some of your applications will require Windows, but some are available as dockers. Install the Community Applications plugin if you haven't already to help you find those that are available as dockers.

 

Also, with regard to linking Plex to another server, I'm not sure what you're asking.  Are you saying you have Plex/Emby up in a test unRAID server and want to link those Dockers to shares on your other server?

 

And with regard to moving VM's from ESXi to unRAID, can't be done as far as I'm concerned.  unRAID uses the KVM hypervisor which is fundamentally different from ESXi.

 

Correct on the Plex thing - just as a test run I have plex on \\server2 and all my data on my current unraid box \\server1\media\movies can I link plex docker to that. I believe I tried and it didnt' work but maybe I didnt' do that part correctly.

 

Makemkv docker and blu ray drive worked which was a plus.

 

 

 

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All the more reason to use dockers, which will use a lot fewer resources than multiple VMs. Some of your applications will require Windows, but some are available as dockers. Install the Community Applications plugin if you haven't already to help you find those that are available as dockers.

 

Also, with regard to linking Plex to another server, I'm not sure what you're asking.  Are you saying you have Plex/Emby up in a test unRAID server and want to link those Dockers to shares on your other server?

 

And with regard to moving VM's from ESXi to unRAID, can't be done as far as I'm concerned.  unRAID uses the KVM hypervisor which is fundamentally different from ESXi.

 

Correct on the Plex thing - just as a test run I have plex on \\server2 and all my data on my current unraid box \\server1\media\movies can I link plex docker to that. I believe I tried and it didnt' work but maybe I didnt' do that part correctly.

 

Makemkv docker and blu ray drive worked which was a plus.

 

There is no "easy" way to do it as Dockers are really meant to only access local paths (at least the Plex docker is).  However some have found a workaround albeit a fairly complex one if you're new to unRAID.

 

https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=38770.0

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Well that is Good info to know.  Thanks -

 

So for VMs & Unraid what is the best option?  VirtualBox, Xen Hypervisor, KVM, ???? Suggestions/opinions....

 

unRAID 6 has KVM built into it so if you wanted to run unRAID baremetal you can then create VM's from within unRAID itself.  Your other option is to do what I and many others do which is run unRAID as a VM itself inside ESXi and then of course you can just continue to run you current VM's along side it.  However as others have alluded to in this thread, you're better off consolidating your Windows VM's into 1 and just allocating more resources to that one VM if it needs it.

 

P.S.  What's your budget for this consolidated server?

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Well that is Good info to know.  Thanks -

 

So for VMs & Unraid what is the best option?  VirtualBox, Xen Hypervisor, KVM, ???? Suggestions/opinions....

 

unRAID 6 has KVM built into it so if you wanted to run unRAID baremetal you can then create VM's from within unRAID itself.  Your other option is to do what I and many others do which is run unRAID as a VM itself inside ESXi and then of course you can just continue to run you current VM's along side it.  However as others have alluded to in this thread, you're better off consolidating your Windows VM's into 1 and just allocating more resources to that one VM if it needs it.

 

P.S.  What's your budget for this consolidated server?

 

For now I may try the KVM built into Unraid as a test run.

 

Well for now I would like to use one of the items I have now.

 

1) I could add more memory to my main box which has the following items - might need to add a sata controller card as well.

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX

G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 6-Core 3.2GHz Socket AM3

XIGMATEK Dark Knight II SD1283 Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler

Radeon HD 4200

CORSAIR CXM series CX600M 600W ATX12V v2.3 SLI CrossFire 80

 

 

 

2) Dell 2950 III, 32 GB ram, 6  slots

    Can I get unraid to run on this - never tried but if possible might be a starting point just have to deal with the loudness.

    Can I use any types of drives in this system? Right now it has 146g scsi drives. If so might be worth testing out as I have a bunch of random drives laying around.

 

 

 

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Seems like most people think better off for esxi server like I was running it. https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=42333.0

 

So with my Gigabyte MB it has the following -

PCI Express 2.0 x16

    1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16

 

PCI Express x1

    1 x PCI Express x1

 

PCI Slots

    2 x PCI Slots

 

What would be a good sata controller to add to have more drives?

 

A lot of people (myself included) have had good success with the IBM ServeRAID M1015 controller card.  You can get one for about $90 on eBay.

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